Intercultural communications
Rwanda Lebanon
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| Photo credit: Wikipedia, latest updated |
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| Photo credit: Wikipedia, latest updated |
Introduction
I have been living in Rwanda for the last 20 years and have been in Lebanon for just three months. While the time I spent in my home country is long enough to allow me to talk about our culture, I dare to deny myself the rights to talk about Lebanese culture for three months is a little to no time at all. For that very reason, in this research, I will use interviews and other sources of information to be able to talk about Lebanese culture. I have to chose to talk about Lebanon and Rwanda as my areas of interest not just because they are the only countries that I have lived in but also because the two countries have some similarities in the histories--be it the division between people or civil wars (Genocide for Rwanda, to be specific).
Now, it is important to realize that communication is very important in our daily lives. And the way we communicate is governed by our cultural rules, which is the "knowledge a person acquires as a result of being a part of a particular society," (Taylor, 1871). Coming to college I thought my transition would go just smooth. I couldn't be more wrong. I learned that cultural rules are important and one has to endure to be able to communicate culturally in the "foreign" culture. I realized that Rwanda and Lebanon have some similarities as well as differences in their communication. Perhaps the most obvious difference is the language (Arabic for Lebanon and Kinyarwanda for Rwanda) and so we cannot make it our topic of discussion here. We will explore other more interesting features between the two cultures.
Greetings
Rwanda
In Rwanda, people like to greet each other. Two people meeting on a public trip for a trip are likely to say "Muraho" which translates to "Hello."
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| Photo credit: igihe.com |
People (of either sex) will always shake hands even when they meet for their first time. They will hug after they are acquainted with each other. While people of the same gender will never kiss as a part of their greetings, those different genders (usually acquainted with each other) usually will kiss only on one cheek. Another important notice is that when two people meet, culturally the younger is not supposed to impose a handshake to an elder. Instead, a younger can say "Hello" then the else imposes his handshake to the younger. Breaking this rule can result in an offense of rudeness especially if a younger person imposes their handshake on elders.
Lebanon
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Unlike Rwandans, two Lebanese strangers to meet on a street or on a public bus are not likely to shake their hands while greeting. According to my Lebanese roommate, whose name will remain anonymous, people wouldn't shake hands unless they know each other well. "It depends," he said, "but if they don't know you, why would they shake hands with you?" He added. However, they will always say something like "Hello" but rarely shake hands. Like Rwandans, though, people who are familiar with each other will shake hands especially if they are of the same gender. As to what I have learned from my experience in Lebanon, men and women who know each other will not usually shake hands much as women and women or men and men do. To my biggest surprise, men and men or women and women will kiss three times on cheeks while greeting.
Winking
Rwanda
In Rwanda, just like in many other cultures, winking conveys a specific message and it's up to the receiver to figure out what the sender means to tell them. Winking in Rwandan cultures mainly used when people are in a crowd and the sender wants only the receiver to know the message. It can mean to remind someone of something they had been talking about before. Or it can be used to tell the receiver of the message that an important point is made, and they need to keep it. Unfortunately, though, it can also be used by someone who is lying. If one of the audience knows the truth, a liar might wink at them to let them know he is lying on purpose.
Lebanon
| Wikipedia photos |
Like Rwandans, Lebanese wink to make jokes, lie or convey the message to specific individuals in a large group of audience. Unlike Rwanda, however, Lebanese also use a wink as a sign of sexual attraction to each other, something that a Rwandan would not do.
Jokes
Rwanda
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| A young Rwandan mimics the President's voice. |
Rwandans like cracking joking a lot. In fact, comedy nights are among the most famous entertaining events in the country. In Rwanda, some jokes are either based on the reality, things that are happening and are dramatically twisted, or things that might happen is an incidence happens. For example, a person would dramatize the president's speech and "misinterpret" it in a way that is extremely humorous.
Lebanon
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Photo credit: Daniel Amaneddine
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In Lebanon, just like Rwanda people like jokes. Although most of the features about jokes are the same in both countries, there are some jokes that could be cracked in Lebanon but wouldn't necessarily make sense in my home country. For example, my roommate told me that usually Lebanese make jokes about infrastructures and other economic structures. To illustrate this, consider a Lebanese who would joke about water and electricity cuts in Lebanon. A Rwandese who is not familiar with the water cut in their country wouldn't make sense of the joke. However, I also believe that Rwandans have their own jokes especially when youth are using slangs. One of them would be to write an English word "great" with a Rwandan sound "gureti." Everyone who sees and understands that word in a text will roll in aisles. That kind of joke will not, however, make any sense for a Lebanese who are not used to it. Unlike Rwandans, young Lebanese also make jokes by employing cursing. The fun comes in when people are exchanging curses, my friends told me. So when someone is cursed, they are expected to reciprocate it and the failure to do so might be seen as someone lacks important cultural knowledge among young Lebanese.
Dances and songs
Rwanda
Lebanon
Like Rwandans, Lebanese have fun with music in their different ceremonies. Lebanese traditional dance is called Dabke. "[Dabke] a line traditional dance is performed on weddings and joyous occasions" (Aziza, 2011).
The effects of religion on intercultural communications
Rwanda
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| Credit: Limitless Safari Ltd |
Languages and communications are largely affected by religious, though not very obvious. For example, everyone will say that people's names and sometimes words they use to communicate are affected by their religions. For this reason, a person name will give hints about their religion. Rwanda is a country that is dominantly Christian and where religions are not given much attention. Rwandan Language is slightly affected by religions because, although there are different religions, there is no significant influence on social life and none at all on political status.
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| Photo credit: Encyclopedia Britain |
Lebanon
On the other hand, Lebanese communications are largely affected by religion due to the influence of religion on their social and political status. As my friend one day told me, names speak volumes also about one's religious affiliation.
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